Book of Common Prayer
O Yahweh, Deliver My Soul
A Song of [a]Ascents.
120 (A)In my distress I called to Yahweh,
And He answered me.
2 O Yahweh, deliver my soul from a (B)lying lip,
From a (C)deceitful tongue.
3 What shall He give to you, and what shall He add to you,
O (D)deceitful tongue?
4 (E)Sharp arrows of the warrior,
With the burning (F)coals of the broom tree.
5 Woe is me, for I sojourn in (G)Meshech,
For I dwell among the (H)tents of (I)Kedar!
6 Too long has my soul had its dwelling
With those who (J)hate peace.
7 I (K)am for peace, but when I speak,
They are (L)for war.
My Help Comes from Yahweh
A Song of Ascents.
121 I will (M)lift up my eyes to (N)the mountains;
From where shall my help come?
2 My (O)help comes from Yahweh,
Who (P)made heaven and earth.
3 [b]He will not (Q)allow your foot to stumble;
[c]He who (R)keeps you will not slumber.
4 Behold, He who keeps Israel
Will not slumber and will not sleep.
5 Yahweh is your (S)keeper;
Yahweh is your (T)shade on your right hand.
6 The (U)sun will not strike you by day,
Nor the moon by night.
7 Yahweh will (V)keep you from all evil;
He will keep your soul.
8 Yahweh will (W)keep your going out and your coming in
(X)From now until forever.
Go to the House of Yahweh
A Song of Ascents. Of David.
122 I was glad when they said to me,
“Let us (Y)go to the house of Yahweh.”
2 Our feet are standing
Within your (Z)gates, O Jerusalem,
3 Jerusalem, which is (AA)built
As a city (AB)joined altogether;
4 To which the tribes, the tribes of Yah, (AC)go up—
A testimony for Israel—
To give thanks to the name of Yahweh.
5 For there, (AD)thrones sit for judgment,
The thrones of the house of David.
6 Pray for the (AE)peace of Jerusalem:
“May they prosper who (AF)love you.
7 May peace be within your (AG)walls,
And tranquility within your (AH)palaces.”
8 For the sake of my (AI)brothers and my friends,
I will now say, “(AJ)May peace be within you.”
9 For the sake of the house of Yahweh our God,
I will (AK)seek your good.
To You I Lift Up My Eyes
A Song of Ascents.
123 To You I (AL)lift up my eyes,
The One (AM)enthroned in the heavens!
2 Behold, as the eyes of (AN)slaves look to the hand of their master,
As the eyes of a servant-girl to the hand of her mistress,
So our (AO)eyes look to Yahweh our God,
Until He is gracious to us.
3 (AP)Be gracious to us, O Yahweh, be gracious to us,
For we are greatly saturated (AQ)with contempt.
4 Our soul is greatly saturated
With the (AR)mockery of (AS)those who are at ease,
And with the (AT)contempt of the proud.
Yahweh Was on Our Side
A Song of Ascents. Of David.
124 “(AU)Had it not been Yahweh who was on our side,”
(AV)Let Israel now say,
2 “Had it not been Yahweh who was on our side
When men rose up against us,
3 Then they would have (AW)swallowed us alive,
When their (AX)anger was kindled against us;
4 Then the (AY)waters would have flowed over us,
The stream would have [d]swept over our soul;
5 Then the (AZ)raging waters would have [e]swept over our soul.”
6 Blessed be Yahweh,
Who has not given us to be (BA)prey for their teeth.
7 Our soul has (BB)escaped (BC)as a bird out of the (BD)snare of the trapper;
The snare is broken and we have escaped.
8 Our (BE)help is in the name of Yahweh,
Who (BF)made heaven and earth.
Yahweh Surrounds His People
A Song of Ascents.
125 Those who trust in Yahweh
Are as Mount Zion, which (BG)will not be shaken but (BH)will abide forever.
2 As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
So (BI)Yahweh surrounds His people
(BJ)From now until forever.
3 For the (BK)scepter of wickedness shall not rest upon the [f]land of the righteous,
So that the righteous (BL)would not send forth their hands in unrighteousness.
4 (BM)Do good, O Yahweh, to those who are good
And to those who are (BN)upright in their hearts.
5 But as for those who (BO)turn aside to their (BP)crooked ways,
Yahweh will lead them away with the (BQ)workers of iniquity.
(BR)Peace be upon Israel.
Those Who Sow in Tears Shall Reap with Joy
A Song of Ascents.
126 When Yahweh [g](BS)returned [h]the captive ones of Zion,
We were (BT)like those who dream.
2 Then our (BU)mouth was filled with laughter
And our (BV)tongue with shouts of joy;
Then they said among the nations,
“Yahweh has (BW)done great things for them.”
3 Yahweh has done great things for us;
We are (BX)glad.
4 Restore our captivity, O Yahweh,
As the [i](BY)streams in the Negev.
5 Those who sow in (BZ)tears shall reap with (CA)shouts of joy.
6 He who goes to and fro weeping, carrying his bag of seed,
Shall indeed come again with a shout of joy, carrying his sheaves with him.
Unless Yahweh Builds the House
A Song of Ascents. Of Solomon.
127 Unless Yahweh (CB)builds the house,
They labor in vain who build it;
Unless Yahweh (CC)watches the city,
The watchman keeps awake in vain.
2 It is in vain that you rise up early,
That you sit out late,
O you who (CD)eat the bread of [j]painful labors;
For in this manner, He gives (CE)sleep to His (CF)beloved.
3 Behold, (CG)children are [k]an inheritance of Yahweh,
The (CH)fruit of the womb is a reward.
4 Like arrows in the hand of a (CI)warrior,
So are the children of one’s youth.
5 How (CJ)blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them;
(CK)They will not be ashamed
When they (CL)speak with enemies (CM)in the gate.
Calamity in Israel and Judah
1 The (A)word of [a]Yahweh which came to (B)Micah of Moresheth in the days of (C)Jotham, (D)Ahaz, and (E)Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he beheld concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.
2 Hear, O peoples, all of [b]you;
(F)Give heed, O earth, as well as its fullness,
And let Lord Yahweh be a (G)witness against you,
The Lord from His holy temple.
3 For behold, Yahweh is (H)going forth from His place.
He will come down and (I)tread on the high places of the [c]earth.
4 (J)The mountains will melt under Him,
And the valleys will be split,
Like wax before the fire,
Like water poured down a steep place.
5 All this is for the transgression of Jacob
And for the sins of the house of Israel.
What is the (K)transgression of Jacob?
Is it not (L)Samaria?
What is the (M)high [d]place of Judah?
Is it not Jerusalem?
6 So I will make Samaria a (N)heap of ruins in the field,
(O)Planting places for a vineyard.
And I will (P)pour her stones down into the valley
And will (Q)lay bare her foundations.
7 And all of her (R)graven images will be smashed,
And all of her earnings will be burned with fire
And all of her idols I will make desolate,
For she collected them from a (S)harlot’s earnings,
And to the earnings of a harlot they will return.
A Plot to Kill Paul
12 Now when it was day, (A)the Jews formed a [a]conspiracy and (B)bound themselves under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink until they had killed Paul. 13 And there were more than forty who formed this scheme. 14 They came to the chief priests and the elders and said, “We have (C)bound ourselves under a curse to taste nothing until we have killed Paul. 15 So now you, along with (D)the Sanhedrin, notify the commander to bring him down to you, as though you were going to determine his case more carefully; and we for our part are ready to slay him before he comes near.”
16 But when the son of Paul’s sister heard of their ambush, [b]he came and entered (E)the barracks and reported it to Paul. 17 And Paul called one of the centurions to him and said, “Lead this young man to the commander, for he has something to report to him.” 18 So he took him and led him to the [c]commander and *said, “Paul (F)the prisoner called me to him and asked me to lead this young man to you since he has something to tell you.” 19 And the [d]commander took him by the hand and stepping aside, began to inquire of him privately, “What is it that you have to report to me?” 20 And he said, “(G)The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down tomorrow to (H)the Sanhedrin, as though they were going to inquire somewhat more carefully about him. 21 So do not be persuaded by them, for more than forty of them—who have (I)bound themselves under a curse not to eat or drink until they slay him—are (J)lying in wait for him and now they are ready and waiting for the promise from you.” 22 So the commander let the young man go, instructing him, “Tell no one that you have notified me of these things.”
Paul Is Brought to Caesarea
23 And when he called to him two of the centurions, he said, “Make ready two hundred soldiers, [e]seventy horsemen, and two hundred [f]spearmen to proceed to (K)Caesarea by the [g]third hour of the night, 24 and provide mounts to put Paul on and bring him safely to (L)Felix the governor.”
The Centurion’s Faith
7 (A)When He had completed all His words in the hearing of the people, (B)He went to Capernaum.
2 And a centurion’s slave, [a]who was highly regarded by him, was sick and about to die. 3 Now when he heard about Jesus, (C)he sent some [b]Jewish elders asking Him to come and [c]save the life of his slave. 4 And when they came to Jesus, they were earnestly pleading with Him, saying, “He is worthy for You to grant this to him; 5 for he loves our nation and it was he who built us our synagogue.” 6 Now Jesus was going on His way with them; and when He was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to Him, “[d]Lord, do not trouble Yourself further, for I am not good enough for You to come under my roof. 7 For this reason I did not even consider myself worthy to come to You, but just [e]say the word, and my [f]servant will be healed. 8 For I also am a man placed under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.” 9 Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled at him. And He turned to the crowd that was following Him and said, “I say to you, (D)not even in Israel have I found such great faith.” 10 And when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health.
11 And it happened that soon afterwards He went to a city called Nain, and His disciples were going along with Him, [g]accompanied by a large crowd. 12 Now as He approached the gate of the city, behold, [h]a dead man was being carried out, the [i]only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a sizeable crowd from the city was with her. 13 And when (E)the Lord saw her, He felt compassion for her and said to her, “Do not cry.” 14 And He came up and touched the coffin, and the bearers came to a halt. And He said, “Young man, I say to you, arise!” 15 And the [j]dead man sat up and began to speak. And Jesus gave him back to his mother. 16 (F)And fear gripped them all, and they began (G)glorifying God, saying, “A great (H)prophet has arisen among us!” and, “God has [k]visited His people!” 17 (I)And this report concerning Him went out all over Judea and in all the surrounding district.
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